Minister's Column,
February 2012:
"From My Window"
by Rev. Charlie Ortman:
It has not been a quiet week in our home state of New Jersey. The ideals of social justice and the beloved community took three major steps. On Monday, Governor Christie appointed Bruce Harris, an openly gay African-American, to the state Supreme Court. On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee, in an eight to four vote, approved a marriage equality bill, which will now go to a full vote on the Senate floor. (A similar hearing and vote is planned by the Judiciary Committee of the Assembly sometime next week.)
These two events are huge because they indicate compelling progress on a very long road toward the struggle for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) rights. It’s interesting to note even greater progress indicated on the road to antiracism in that Mr. Harris’ race/ethnicity went largely unremarked upon, as he was named to the highest court in the state. The values of our UU Congregation were well represented in both of these events.
The third event of the week, which took place simultaneous to the second, was Governor Christie’s announcement that he would veto any marriage equality measure passed by the Legislature. “We will take it to the citizens of the state in a referendum,” he said. Adding these events up comes to – two steps forward and one step back. A quick note, the last time a referendum was held in New Jersey was in 1915 when the majority of New Jersey voters turned down the right of women to vote. Civil rights are rarely won through popular vote; they’re more usually won through courageous and moral leadership.
To the point – Unitarian Universalists have a stake in promoting the civil rights of all citizens. Why? There are really so many reasons. To name two: theologically, we are committed to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every individual, as well as the interdependent web of existence that holds us all together as brothers and sisters; sociologically, we find that we are most typically among some of the most privileged social participants in our culture; those with more, owe more.
Throughout February Focus Month we will explore the theme of, “Our UU Values in the Public Square.” I trust we’ll gain vision and clarity on who we are in this mix and what we are called to do. I’ll be there and hope you will be too.
See you at the "U."
Please pray for peace and act for justice,
Charlie Ortman
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